One of the great gifts of homeschooling is having the flexibility to pursue a student’s giftings and callings as they trek through their high school years. This has been especially the case with our second son who enjoys drama and storytelling and videography. Out of all of the different curriculum options we’ve considered, Filmmaking from the First Directors, an introductory course in filmmaking, was the one he wanted to pursue as a hobby, just to better tell and share stories with others.
Note: Get this resource at 25% off using code HHAW25. Click here to browse and download sample lessons from all the great courses at Compass Classroom!
Filmmaking from the First Directors takes students through the early history of filmmaking, focusing on the steps taken by the very first movie directors. Students learn – step-by-step – the basics of filmmaking, including technical aspects such as lighting and camera angles, as well as script-writing and how to tell good stories even without words (as was the case with early film). By working at their own pace, students can truly learn how to make films one step at a time.
Each lesson includes lectures on both the history and production aspects of filmmaking and includes links to watch original silent films that illustrate the techniques introduced. The lessons are broken down as follows:
- Lesson 1 – Documenting Life
- Lesson 2 – A Magical Story
- Lesson 3 – Editing Action
- Lesson 4 – Multi-Shot Narratives
- Lesson 5 – Parallel Editing
- Lesson 6 – Framing, Depth, and Setting
- Lesson 7 – The Feature Film
- Lesson 8 – Feature Films & Auteur Theory
- Lesson 9 – The Character of Comedy: Charlie Chaplin
- Lesson 10 – Comedy as Complex Sequence
- Lesson 11 – Documenting Life (Part 2)
- Lesson 12 – Realism and the Classical Cinema
- Lesson 13 – Formalism and Montage
Each concludes with a specific filmmaking assignment in which the student makes and uploads a variety of short films for online class members to review and comment on. This interactive class element has been a favorite part of the course for our son. Although the film assignments are not graded in this self-paced course, student feedback via the class forum is helpful and encouraging.
To give an idea of the step-by-step skill building that takes place in this course, we present to you David’s first silent film.. Brother Eats a Cracker (aka, Give the Boy Some Water Already!)
In this lesson, he learned about recording a single action from two different angles. So… even if you’ve never worked with cameras before, you’ll learn by starting with the most basic basics.
Next up was scripting and filming a simple story. Still, we are working with telling stories without the use of dialogue. From our son’s perspective, it has been extraordinarily useful to learn scriptwriting without using dialogue as a crutch. Before this course, he thought that scriptwriting was actually defined by dialogue. When you’re writing a script without dialogue, you don’t forget the crucial elements of a script that are so often overlooked in novice scriptwriting. With that, here’s David’s second silent film… The Coffee Crusade:
The third lesson built upon what was previously introduced, stepping up all the elements used in the previous lessons to make a longer film that requires more editing. This assignment especially helped him learn patience in taking multiple takes of a particular scene. So without further ado, here’s his third silent film… The Great Cookie Robbery:
He was in the fourth lesson when we had to set this course aside because of weather and the immediate demands of his other coursework. This class requires a significant amount of work (albeit work our son enjoys!), and because he wanted to spend more time thinking about his script-writing, he decided to wait until the summer to finish the remaining nine lessons. But even with only completing the first four lessons, he has learned a significant amount that has carried into other projects.
Using what he learned from the first 3-4 lessons in Filmmaking from the First Directors, he helped some friends with the videography of an A.C.E. Character Trait Video, Good Sam Aritan.
And then… this! Even though Filmmaking from the First Directors does not teach how to do stop-motion animation, he used the principles of what he learned from this course to put together the storyboard, scenes, and camera shots for a stop-motion animation of a scripture video featuring Matthew 25:1-29, For the Kingdom of Heaven:
After this experience, we can attest that what is learned from this course can be applied to any filmmaking experience!
Although this class is not a film appreciation class, it has helped our son to recognize a good story told via film. He notices the power of technical aspects such a camera angle and lighting. Studying and creating films in this way has also helped him to better enjoy and appreciate old cartoons (e.g., Tom and Jerry) which often do not include words.
If you have a student interested in filmmaking, we highly recommend this course! It has been a great experience for our family thus far, and we are looking forward to sharing more videos with you in the future as we complete the remaining lessons in this course! Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube channel and his Vimeo channel for future updates!
Equipment required for this course includes a digital video camera, a tripod, a computer with video editing software, and an Internet connection. Filmmaking from the First Directors is offered only as an online streaming option – either as a one-time purchase or as part of Compass Classroom’s monthly membership program. You can also watch a trailer/overview of this class here.
Note: Get this resource at 25% off using code HHAW25. Click here to browse and download sample lessons from all the great courses at Compass Classroom!
Try it out for free!
This program is one of over 50 courses (consisting of over 1400 videos) offered in Compass Classroom’s monthly membership which is now available as an app so you can take your learning on the go! You can sign up for a free week to try everything out, including the programs we have used and recommended in the past.
You can also visit this helpful website which lays out how to plan your year using Compass Classroom.
You can also sign up for a free MyCompassClassroom account to experience discussion forums, support groups, and free courses!
If you have any questions about this course or about the Compass Classroom Membership, just give us a shout! We’ll be glad to help in any way that we can!